Arkansas' Bucknam named SEC coach of the year

Arkansas' Chris Bucknam was named SEC Cross Country Coach of the Year on Friday.

FAYETTEVILLE  Arkansas' Chris Bucknam was named Southeastern Conference Cross Country Coach of the Year on Friday after leading the Razorbacks to their third consecutive league title in the sport.

The Razorbacks won their 37th cross country title in 39 years last week, coming in 38 points ahead of second-place Georgia. It was Arkansas' 93rd conference championship overall in cross country, indoor and outdoor track & field.

Bucknam, who is in his fifth season at the school, earned his sixth league coach of the year award, including his third in cross country. He has also been named SEC indoor coach of the year twice and outdoor coach of the year once.

In addition to Bucknam, Solomon Haile, Eric Fernandez and Kemoy Campbell were named first-team all-SEC on Friday, while Cole Wallace named to the league's freshman team. Wallace was also named the league's freshman runner of the year.

For the Razorbacks' women's squad, which finished second in the SEC meet, Grace Heymsfield was named first-team all-SEC and Andrina Schlaepfer was named to the all-freshman team.

Arkansas will host a NCAA Regional next Friday. The NCAA Cross Country Championships are scheduled for Nov. 17 in Louisville, Ky.

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Matt Jones

Matt Jones is the online sports director for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. A double graduate of the University of Arkansas, he is a member of the Football Writers Association of America and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, and voter for the Heisman Trophy and Biletnikoff Award.